A new restoration project

[Franz]

Hi Ron, weekend's coming and my right hand itches for some throttle action, can't await her breaking down it seems........55555
If the rain is gone on Sunday 20th, may I propose (as I do not want to ride roads that are used too frequently) as follows:

Brekki at 07:30 at the Eurodiner, leave there at 08:30 on the "Super" for Lamphun, get onto 116 until it joins the 106, continue until we hit the 1184 and take it all the way to Ban Puang, then on the 1274 to Ko Kha and on the 2 till Lampang, on the 1 in direction of Phayao, nononono not to there but turn left onto 1335 to Chae Hom, on the 1035 to Wang Nua and on to Mae KaChan, up to Wiang Papao onto the 1150 to Phrao and back to Mae Rim for our last stop at the X-Center ?? OK ?? Anyone to join on a quicker bike, come to meet us Sun morning at Gary's.

Cheers, Franz

 

[Ian Bungy]

I will be Waiting at the X-Centre to See the Beauty! First Beer will be on Me Franz!

 

[Franz]

Thanks Ian, will try to be there before evening and enjoy that Tiger (beer of course). So the first loop has been done:

Today need some more work to be done as after doing the Samoeng loop, found out that she's running too rich and the throttle cable somewhere blocks, 2 petcoke's are still leaking, ordered some new gaskets. Also have still issues with the carbs as the frame for the slider seems to have come loose, awaiting a new one from abroad as the current one is broken into 2 and can't source locally.
Here it is, now glued together with epoxy just for temporary use:

Otherwise she runs fine, tyres are much better than expected.
Must finish all today and then tomorrow there's the run-in ride and then for some weeks I will be away from home.........cheers, Franz

 

[Franz]

Well, that was a challenging run-in and I never expected roads south of CNX to be that beautiful. Ron2wheels who was patient enough to be my companion on this loop and I met up early morning for a brekkie at Gary's. Sorry folks I did not even take one foto of Ron, he wanted me to be on his pictures....:

We followed the route I proposed in an earlier post and went on the Superhighway to Lamphun. From there onto 116 and 106 which are nice countryroads leading trough endless villages. The fun started with the 1184. This is a mountain road well paved between rolling hills with sometimes cows on the roads and next to no traffic.
We put-putted along with around 80-100km/h's and found us some nice noodlesoup at Sombut's noodle restaurant in Ban Puang. This deaf restaurant owner was amazing, he used to live in Phuket for 15 years and sold his paintings which look marvellous:

Now he's still doing his artwork and sends them down to the island to be sold to tourists.
We then took another nice road, less through the hills but through an agricultural landscape, the 1274 which brought us straight to KoKha and back onto the 'Super'.
A small artificial lake where the locals use to hang out and have loads of SaengSom, sad only that all the trash is left behind......

Upon leaving the lake we decided not to do the bigger loop as the Tenere experienced some troubles, at lower to mid revs she stuttered as not getting enough air, nothing wrong there with the filters & airbox but the needles too much out, I also need to check them spark plugs once more, coil included. Another one was that at low speeds she's very prone to zig-zag over the ruts on the road, could be that the rubbers where the handlebars are mounted are too worn or the steering stem bearings need another tightening.
Yes and as always with any new bike Khun Fannn needs to run her dry, Ron borrowed me his AT to go and look for some petrol, better to fill in more as it has to last up to Lamphun.

After filling in a little more we continued to head back home, just got some more drinks at a roadside where we found at least 14 Thai guys from Lampang all on 250 dirtbikes heading into the woods for some rough MC action.
The whole day we were lucky with the weather as there wasn't even one cloud and the temperatures not yet back to their normal high during this time of the year.
Traffic wasn't that bad, even on the #1:

All in all a nice day and a not so troublefree ride with pleasant company.
Once more many thanks Ron for taking the fotos and being on this nice loop with me, sometime when time allows in the coming month, the XTZ will get one-more strip down and fine adjustment on her carbs & suspension. /cheers, Franz

 

[ronwebb]

Looks fantastic Franz. Cant wait to have a close look and hope all the teething problems are solved in the near future.

 

[SilverhawkUSA]

Looking good Franz. Sorry, i didn't get back to you. I didn't see your message until late, and I couldn't go on Sunday anyway. Maybe next time.

 

[schackster]

Franz, amazing job you have done. You should have texted me , I would have joined you for breakfast if I had known.

 

[DavidFL]

Congratulations on another masterpiece Franz. I bet it felt great out there riding on your new bike.

 

[Franz]

Yes David it felt great on this biggie. Just await a small parcel with some spares from my dad from Europe. The petcokes are still dripping so they need a new set, the carb's needles have been dropped 2 notches so she isn't drowning in petrol anymore, still the sliderhousing needs to be replaced as need the intake rubbers head-sided.
Sorry Gary & Dave for the short notice but we decided 'on the spot' as the weather was a variable at that time. Will organise another tour soon and post it in time. Cheers, Franz

 

[Franz]

Just an update, parcel arrived and stuff was quickly mounted with perfect results.
But there was still a topcase to be mounted, so out with the anglegrinder and welder and one day serious work and it was finished.
One mount had to go to the exhaust bracket and another one to subframe plus holding grip but in the end it is as stable as can be:

And then some beautiful pink coloured rimstripes at Fast Corner caught my eye, well as Ron-2wheels stated I'm barely visible for other vehicle driving/riding people, so why not touch her up with some decent stripes, well of course also on the rims but only some small ones onto the tank//bodywork:

These stripes came out so nice so I decided:

Hahahaha now also both the SHARK Rsf3 and the AIROH Matisse helmets got some, now I'm visible.......55555555
Some pink Cheers, Franz

 

[mbox999]

Franz;266162 wrote: Hi Rhodie, well, after us talking over the phone and me checking the green book, yes it is this bike. Sad only that it was neglected in such a way for a longer period of time.
But never the less, finally I succeeded in putting her together again and now she shines in new/old fashion.
Now comes the difficult task of adjusting her to my needs, that means riding her on a short trip, running in the brakes and bleeding them anew, finding any leaks of coolant or petrol and tightening the bolts, adjusting the levers, and worst of all adjusting the carbs to the K&N's.........
I am still waiting for some 4 parts to really finish the bike but they are not that urgent anymore. So here's the outcome of my efforts:

I also still ponder if I should fit any top/sidecases because they are so convenient. Problem is that the topcase would need a special bracket as the subframe on the back is for my taste too weak to carry one loaded topcase. And the right hand side case would stick out quite far as the exhaust itself is a big one.

I need to get her on a long loop to get all small details solved first........Ron2wheels anyway offered to be with me on such a 'run-in', that's good because you never know if you screwed up something yourself, so help is then very much appreciated.
Cheers, Franz

Franz, i came across some local website with this helmet....it fits to the Super Tenere color-scheme i think.

happy trails,

mbox

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[Azoulay]

Hi Friends,

You make me jalous with all your wonderfull bikes....and specially the MBox999's Red Tiger retro !

I think I have to do somthing and not to let it be like that....

 

[Tubber]

What have you done to the FJR Franz, looks like a Liquorice Allsort!

 

[vel2000]

well done Franz.
Respect....but...the pink rims look a little bit like..ummmh.

 

[Franz]

Ron, no worry, you didn't offend me with what you posted !!! I like them pink stripes, matches the person that put them on.....555555
Jim & Vel2000, thanks for the compliments fitting the pinkies makes the bikes and me clearly visible......my bulk might be seen during the day but not during night times.....and no other bright colour will fit the bike.......FJR during daylight looks better than on the Fotos.
Reinhard, as for the helmet, fit the same stripes on th Airoh and one Shark already to give matching colours.........
Once I go to Europe might even look for some pink gloves or other gear, or even better reflecting stripes for my jackets to be sewn on.......
Pink cheers, Franz

 

[BignTall]

Franz - A tip of the hat to you on a gorgeous restoration. It looks great and I'm jealous at your atention to detail. Looking forward to crossing paths with you and the new steed. Enjoy it Franz!!

 

[Franz]

Many thanks for the flowers Justin !!! Soon she will be perfect, some more small glitches to be done and then that's it. Still pondering if I should sell her, will do so end of July or early August as right now working of a motard conversion of the DR650 and that costs me loads of money. Will have then 2 wheel and frontfork-spring sets to be able to easily switch between motard and offroad. Just had a run on the FJR and getting totally convinced not to sell this one. So the XTZ750 will be the one on the chopping block me thinks. Cheers, Franz

 

[johnnysneds]

Hey Franz,
Just like to say congratulations on a fantastic restoration project, the bike looks great in her former glory. Really enjoyed reading through your progress.
I like the look of your workshop, inside I take it. I'm still out on the driveway sweating it, would love to turn an air-con room inside my house into a workshop, I'd need to find another place first.
We'll need to get out for that ride sometime with your new bike. I'm away for a month so I'll look you up for ride when I get back.

 

[Franz]

Good thought Ron ! But who would pay the Farang hourly rates and would we get a WP for this I wonder. I was asked already several times if I could take care about someone's motorbike, even a friend who's a Thai policeman wanted me to do his repairs but I always nicely refused as I do not want to do this as a means of living and enjoy just hammering & screwing away on my own bikes in my free time......5555555. Advantage is that I do not have to do it, I just can sit back and wait until I have the will to do some small repair of any of my vehicles.
I think it is better to try and transfer some knowledge to our Thai friends, this and the increase in big bikes on the roads will also bring more repairs and in the end more 'hit-or-fail' experiences of the mechanics which in the end will get more to the 'hit' side though experience. Whenever I find a screw up on any job that was done on any of my bikes, I promised myself to stay calm, return to the shop in question and try to simply explain what was done wrong AND how it could be done right or even perfect.........After blowing my top at one of my friend's shop's one time while my feet were soaked in engine oil and I had my backbrake fail, the wheel slip and nearly hit a brand new Benz at a traffic light, I swore not to be nasty but helpful from then on......
Another thing I like to do, whenever I have a new bike in my stable, I immediately get a repair manual with all specs. to do the job and hand over a copy to the shop that will work on the bike. Hopefully someone also has a look at it..........
For the time being I enjoy life as it is. Might sell the XTZ750 quickly again because I saw just now that someone has posted a plated SR500 here on the forum....555555555555
Cheers, Franz